Pope Francis remembered by IOC president Thomas Bach; credited for inspiring Olympic refugee team
To be eligible, athletes needed to be elite competitors in their respective sport and be refugees in their host country, recognised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The first refugee Olympic team included 10 athletes - six competing in athletics, two in swimming and two in judo. The team expanded to 19 athletes for the next edition of the Games, before a 37-strong team was selected for last year's event in Paris.
In 2024, the refugee Olympic team secured its first medal when Cindy Ngamba secured bronze in the women's middleweight boxing event.
Bach, who steps down in June and will be succeeded by Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry, said he was grateful for Francis' support throughout his 12-year papacy.
'His support for the peace and solidarity mission of the Olympic Games and the refugee initiatives of the IOC has been unwavering,' said Bach.
'I got to know His Holiness as a very pensive intellectual who was humble and had a very good sense of humour.
'His deep passion for sport and the Olympic values was always obvious.'
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Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Wollaston thanks team-mates for victory
Ally Wollaston celebrates victory at the Tour of Britain in Glasgow. PHOTO: SWPIX New Zealand cycling star Ally Wollaston has sprinted her way to overall victory on the final day to win the Tour of Britain. The Suez FDJ professional went into the last stage of the UCI World Tour race around the streets of Glasgow trailing emerging British star Cat Ferguson, from Movistar, by 3sec. Wollaston revelled in the circuit racing, picking up the time bonuses in winning all three of the intermediate sprints in Glasgow then securing the overall honours with a desperate final sprint for third on the stage. It gave the Kiwi rider the vital last four bonus points to secure the overall victory on general classification. "I'm a little bit overwhelmed," Wollaston said. 'I knew it was a lot to pull off today, winning three sprints and having to still get seconds in the final. I knew the race really had to go my way today. 'I'm so, so immensely grateful for my team-mates for making it pan out that way. I really couldn't have done that on my own out there. 'If you looked at every sprint that I did well in today, I was never isolated. I had a team-mate going into the last corner every single time and it made a world of difference. 'This means the world to me. It's my first World Tour victory in GC. 'Often a lot of the times on the track, I race best in omniums when I'm not leading from the front, and I think I found it super-motivating today not having to defend the win. I find it a lot easier on the mind chasing rather than defending." Wollaston has won two world titles on the track as well as silver and bronze medals at the Paris Olympic Games. While the New Zealand star won a World Tour race in Australia in February, this was her first World Tour GC win in a stage race. "It came down to the last sprint, and there was a moment of doubt halfway through that last lap where I thought 'I just cannot do this today', and my team-mates really helped me pull it together and pulled me to the front for the final.'' The final stage was held on an 8.4km city-centre circuit in Glasgow. — APL
Scoop
2 days ago
- Scoop
‘A Win For The Squad': Young 49er Team Strikes Gold At European Champs
Press Release – Yachting New Zealand Rising Kiwi 49er team Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush struck gold at the European Championships in Greece overnight – their proudest sailing achievement to date and the first major success for New Zealand in the class since a silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Menzies and Lee Rush secured overall victory in a strong men's skiff fleet with a day – and the medal race – to spare, having taken the lead on the second day of competition in Thessaloniki. They delivered a calm and consistent performance across the week, notching 11 top-10 finishes from 12 fleet races, before also placing fourth in the double-points medal race to win the regatta by a commanding 54 points. American crew Nevin Snow and Ian MacDiarmid were second, with Uruguay's Hernán Umpierre and Fernando Diz third. New Kiwi pairing Sam Bacon and Blake McGlashan narrowly missed out on the medal race with a 13th-place overall finish – their best result since teaming up last year. Another emerging duo, Mattias Coutts and Oscar Gunn, placed second in the silver fleet (27th overall), while Francesco Kayrouz and Hamish McLaren finished 49th. 'It's been incredibly hot and light all week,' said Lee Rush. 'Lots of waiting, really long days – often getting off the water around 7 or 8pm. It's been pretty taxing in that sense, but we kept things simple and tried to keep doing what we were from the start of the week.' Lee Rush credited their strong position early in the regatta with giving them belief. 'We had a really good second day that put us in the lead, but there was still all of finals racing and the medal race to go, and the points were tight. At that stage, we weren't even sure we'd make the medal race, let alone the podium or a win. But we followed that up with another solid day, and it started to feel possible.' One key improvement, he said, was their starting. 'Our starts have really come along – we've been working hard on it. We've only been competing overseas for the last two years, and it takes time to get comfortable with it [starting] at this level.' Menzies and Lee Rush teamed up in 2021 and found success quickly, finishing third in the 29er at the 2022 youth sailing world championships, followed by gold in the 49erFX at the junior world championships. But the move to the full 49er hasn't been without its challenges. Gaining the necessary weight to stay competitive in stronger breeze has been the biggest hurdle, Lee Rush admits. 'It's been our top priority for a few years now. We're getting there, but it's a long-term thing. It takes time to adjust to the 49er – the racing, the starting, just doing regattas and building experience.' They've been steadily climbing the ranks over the past year. They finished fourth at last year's junior world championships, just days before Isaac McHardie and Will McKenzie took 49er silver at the Paris Games. In the Olympic medallists' absence, Menzies and Lee Rush won the 2025 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland in February, placed ninth at the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma in April, and came 13th at French Olympic Week in Hyères a fortnight later. Their progress owes a lot to the depth and quality of the New Zealand 49er squad, which includes Bacon and McGlashan, Coutts and Gunn, and Kayrouz and McLaren. 'We had a really solid training block back home in the New Zealand summer. There are consistently five high-level boats pushing each other, all working towards the same goal. Not many countries have that kind of depth, and being part of a squad like this makes a huge difference,' he said. 'We're all close. We train together, travel together, stay together overseas. That bond helps, especially when we're pushing each other at such a high level, and it's a big part of why we've got to this point.' Winning the European championships is unquestionably a career highlight. 'Seb's had a lot of success in the 420, but for me, this is definitely number one, and I think he'd put it pretty high up there, too. It's a senior class. It's not a world championship, but it's still a massive win, and we didn't expect to be winning an event like this so soon in our 49er campaign.' The pair have their sights set on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, but know there's a long road ahead. 'It's a great result; to be able to show that we can perform against other top-level boats and that we can put together a regatta across a full week and keep ourselves consistent and calm under pressure. But it's still just one regatta, and we have a lot to prove,' Lee Rush said. 'More importantly, it's special for the whole squad. We're all working towards the same goal – trying to get one of us to go to the Olympics and perform in 2028. This is definitely a win for the squad as much as it is for us.'
Scoop
2 days ago
- Scoop
'A Win For The Squad': Young 49er Team Strikes Gold At European Champs
Rising Kiwi 49er team Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush struck gold at the European Championships in Greece overnight - their proudest sailing achievement to date and the first major success for New Zealand in the class since a silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Menzies and Lee Rush secured overall victory in a strong men's skiff fleet with a day - and the medal race - to spare, having taken the lead on the second day of competition in Thessaloniki. They delivered a calm and consistent performance across the week, notching 11 top-10 finishes from 12 fleet races, before also placing fourth in the double-points medal race to win the regatta by a commanding 54 points. American crew Nevin Snow and Ian MacDiarmid were second, with Uruguay's Hernán Umpierre and Fernando Diz third. New Kiwi pairing Sam Bacon and Blake McGlashan narrowly missed out on the medal race with a 13th-place overall finish - their best result since teaming up last year. Another emerging duo, Mattias Coutts and Oscar Gunn, placed second in the silver fleet (27th overall), while Francesco Kayrouz and Hamish McLaren finished 49th. "It's been incredibly hot and light all week," said Lee Rush. "Lots of waiting, really long days - often getting off the water around 7 or 8pm. It's been pretty taxing in that sense, but we kept things simple and tried to keep doing what we were from the start of the week." Lee Rush credited their strong position early in the regatta with giving them belief. "We had a really good second day that put us in the lead, but there was still all of finals racing and the medal race to go, and the points were tight. At that stage, we weren't even sure we'd make the medal race, let alone the podium or a win. But we followed that up with another solid day, and it started to feel possible." One key improvement, he said, was their starting. "Our starts have really come along - we've been working hard on it. We've only been competing overseas for the last two years, and it takes time to get comfortable with it [starting] at this level." Menzies and Lee Rush teamed up in 2021 and found success quickly, finishing third in the 29er at the 2022 youth sailing world championships, followed by gold in the 49erFX at the junior world championships. But the move to the full 49er hasn't been without its challenges. Gaining the necessary weight to stay competitive in stronger breeze has been the biggest hurdle, Lee Rush admits. "It's been our top priority for a few years now. We're getting there, but it's a long-term thing. It takes time to adjust to the 49er - the racing, the starting, just doing regattas and building experience." They've been steadily climbing the ranks over the past year. They finished fourth at last year's junior world championships, just days before Isaac McHardie and Will McKenzie took 49er silver at the Paris Games. In the Olympic medallists' absence, Menzies and Lee Rush won the 2025 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland in February, placed ninth at the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma in April, and came 13th at French Olympic Week in Hyères a fortnight later. Their progress owes a lot to the depth and quality of the New Zealand 49er squad, which includes Bacon and McGlashan, Coutts and Gunn, and Kayrouz and McLaren. "We had a really solid training block back home in the New Zealand summer. There are consistently five high-level boats pushing each other, all working towards the same goal. Not many countries have that kind of depth, and being part of a squad like this makes a huge difference," he said. "We're all close. We train together, travel together, stay together overseas. That bond helps, especially when we're pushing each other at such a high level, and it's a big part of why we've got to this point." Winning the European championships is unquestionably a career highlight. 'Seb's had a lot of success in the 420, but for me, this is definitely number one, and I think he'd put it pretty high up there, too. It's a senior class. It's not a world championship, but it's still a massive win, and we didn't expect to be winning an event like this so soon in our 49er campaign." The pair have their sights set on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, but know there's a long road ahead. "It's a great result; to be able to show that we can perform against other top-level boats and that we can put together a regatta across a full week and keep ourselves consistent and calm under pressure. But it's still just one regatta, and we have a lot to prove," Lee Rush said. "More importantly, it's special for the whole squad. We're all working towards the same goal - trying to get one of us to go to the Olympics and perform in 2028. This is definitely a win for the squad as much as it is for us."
